PARKING and everything else you need to know!

Parking on GC’s campus is a simple issue that in my opinion sometimes gets blown out of proportion. Let’s look at some perks quickly: You’ll never have to park miles from where you live and go to class. You’ll pay far less than you would at a large institution. *Story time, when I was in graduate school I paid $185 to park in a lot away from campus and then had to ride a bus to campus.* I say all of this to hopefully decrease anxiety and encourage you that parking on campus can and should be the least of your worries. This conversation of course, centers around the assumption that you have a car on campus. If not, fear not, there are plenty of people around who are willing to drive you up to Kroger or Wal-Mart, you just need to ask! We also have an awesome Ride Share Board, you log into portal, click on the departments link, and go to STUDENT LIFE.

You can also get in touch with Ms. Melanie Lucas who works in campus safety. You can reach her at, 502-863-8110. So let’s address some common questions and mistakes regarding parking. First off you’re not required to buy a parking pass, however you will be ticketed if you park in designated areas without one. Did you know there are designated areas for first year students? There’s a map online for each area of campus, just check out the parking policies section of Campus Safety’s website. I’ve had a lot of conversations with students who are frustrated if they can’t find a spot specifically in Knight or Anderson, you need to keep in mind that while you bought a parking pass for campus, that pass doesn’t guarantee a specific spot.

Sometimes you’ll have to park further away, and if it’s late at night I highly encourage you to walk back to your residence hall with a friend or call campus safety for an escort. You can call the following number, 502.863.8111 for an escort at night or if you have a situation where you are injured or have a reason to be afraid. You may have to wait a few minutes but our safety officers are awesome and one of them will come to assist you! Another point to keep in mind when it comes to parking is recognizing which spots are public city owned space and which spots are owned by the college. If you park on a street on campus and you’re parked in an illegal space, maybe in front of a yellow line you’ll get a ticket from the city. If you park in a space illegally within a college owned parking lot you’ll get a ticket from the college. One key here is don’t ever park in front of a yellow line, you’ll save yourself the headache of a ticket!

Let’s say you get a parking ticket and feel you want to appeal the ticket? Here’s some information from the website about the appeal process: “Students who feel their car has been unfairly ticketed have the right to file an appeal with the Campus Safety Office within 5 business days. An appeals committee which is comprised of faculty, staff, and students meets monthly to review parking appeals.” If you have additional questions you can find more information about the process on the website listed above!